Frank Mason Robinson (1845–1923) was an important early marketer and advertiser of what became known as Coca-Cola.
During the winter of 1885, Robinson and his business partner, David Doe, came to the South in order to sell a machine they invented called a "chromatic printing device" which had the capability to produce two colors in one imprint. Upon arrival in Atlanta, Robinson and David Doe approached Dr. John S. Pemberton, and struck a deal. In 1886 Frank Robinson officially settled in Atlanta where a new business was made called the Pemberton Chemical Company consisting of Robinson, Pemberton, David Doe and Pemberton's old partner, Ed Holland.
Pemberton was experimenting with a medicinal formula which included coca leaves and kola nuts as sources of its ingredients. Robinson, who served as bookkeeper and partner to Pemberton, gave the syrup formula the name Coca-Cola, where Coca came from the coca leaves used and Cola for the kola nuts.
The name Coca-Cola was also chosen "because it was euphonious, and on account of my familiarity with such names as 'S.S.S; and 'B.B.B'" said Robinson himself. He was also responsible for writing the Coca-Cola name in Spencerian script which was popular with bookkeepers of the era and remains one of the most recognized trademarks in the world.
その後コカ・コーラは人気を博したものの、健康を害したペンバートンは早々にその権利をたった1ドルで売却してしまい、まもなく1888年に亡くなった。
コカ・コーラの権利は、しばらくは人から人へと移り、裁判で争いになることもしばしばあった。最終的にコカ・コーラの権利は1888～1891年の期間にエイサ・キャンドラー (Asa Griggs Candler) のもとに渡り、1892年にキャンドラーはペンバートンの息子らと共にコカ・コーラ・カンパニーを設立した。
1895年頃には、流通網の拡大とCoca-Colaロゴと"Delicious and Refreshing" のキャッチコピーを活かした積極的なマーケティングにより、「コカ・コーラ」は米国のあらゆる州で手に入れることのできる国民的飲料となった。
この間の1890年から1891年にかけての1年間だけ、同社は違うロゴを採用している。
これに関してはコカ・コーラ社のホームページにも「For one year only, our logo gets a dramatic, swirly makeover.」「This version of the script showed the greatest departure from Robinson’s original.」と記載があるだけだが、調べてみると同社が印刷した1891年のカレンダーで一度だけ使われたロゴとのことだ。そしてその貴重なカレンダーの画像も確認できる。
In 1890, a version of the logo was created and used only once, on the first calendar ever printed by the company. It features a style heavily reminiscent of musical notation and wholly out-of-kilter with the logo we know today. The creator of this design is unknown, but they certainly brought an unusual feel to the lettering.
